What Lay Hidden Forbidden
by Paper Butterfly8
Summary: This is a short story about Imhotep and Anck's love...completed. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Ok, I love **_**the Mummy**_**...Imhotep is delicious and I just love Egypt, it's so easy for me to get immersed and addicted to that world. So here's a short story I just finished editing, it's all done, and is just waiting to be posted...installments will be updated daily on Tuesdays. I hope that ya'll enjoy the angle I've taken on this, it's written in a narrative of Anck-su-namun and Imhotep's love and how it grew. I would love to hear your opinions on the story...so onto this first and brief chapter.**

What Lay Hidden...Forbidden

Sunlight. Bronze sands. Biting winds. Intense heat. This is home. This is Egypt.

On a balcony, overlooking the scene of Thebes, stands the beautiful sculpted body of Anck-su-namun. But her heart and soul, are elsewhere; they are wherever Imhotep is. Her mind is the only thing that tells her body to react to the touch of the Pharaoh Seti. Her lord, her future husband, her captor, the god who will inhabit her. _He will find this temple empty when we are wed_, she thinks as he kisses her. She does her duty, kissing him back, caressing his worn face with her long, smooth fingers. It is not that he is an evil or harsh man, he simply does not hold her heart as Imhotep, the High Priest of Osiris, does. Anck kisses the Pharaoh harder as she tries to push Imhotep from her mind. She cannot reveal her heart, it would be death. Not that she has a reason to live…but Imhotep…he would surely be killed as well. No. She will lie for the rest of a long life just to keep him safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hello readers, I said that I would be uploading a chapter every tuesday but since I'll be out of town next week (to a land without modern technology, oooh) I am going to be posting today. Yay! **

**I would like to thank my one reviewer, Lilly, I'm glad that you like the story, Imhotep and Egypt too : ) And even though these chapters are short I would like to know what ya'll think about 'em so please, please, pweeeaaassseee just send at least a little note if you are reading this. It would be really cool to have some reviews to welcome me home from my journey into 'the wild'. But enough with my begging, I give you chapter two of...**

What Lay Hidden...Forbidden

_To hear your voice is pomegranate wine to me:  
I draw life from hearing it.  
Could I see you with every glance,  
It would be better for me  
Than to eat or to drink._

- Egyptian New Kingdom poem, 1539-1075 bc

(translated by M.V. Fox)

Golden, sculpted flesh, chiseled yet gently curving lips and dark penetrating eyes; a proud, strong figure walking through the gilded halls of Pharaoh's palace. Anck-su-numan dares not look at him; for this is Imhotep. In her mind she runs over his features, those features she has memorized with guarded eyes, traitorous heart and with the deepest affection. She walks on, breathing slowly in relief as she feels his presence slip from her. She nods to the Medjai as she enters the irrigated gardens. Taking deep a breath of fragrant and cool air, she closes her eyes. Here she can find peace, the Pharaoh, hardly anyone ever comes here, they are all too busy with other things. But Anck does not have much to occupy her as the soon to be Queen, everything is done for her as preparations are made. Approaching the small courtyard where she practices her dances, she picks up a gilded linen fan from the table and does a small, sensual, dance. Waving the fan in arcs and circles, for a moment she thinks of nothing; there is only the flourishing garden around her and a golden bird flitting around her hands. She finishes her dance, the fan hiding her face, revealing only her sultry charcoal eyes. It is then that she sees Imhotep watching her. Her Nile, her torment, her utmost blessing and curse. In his eyes she sees the light of what they hide. She turns from him but his eyes are still on her back, she feels them with a pleasure and fear, then his gaze passes away. After a moment, Anck-su-namun tentatively turns; he has left and her heart flutters back down to its grey perch.

When Anck-su-namun first saw Imhotep she had felt something, she puzzled over what it was until she realized that she loved him. Shocked at her treachery, from then on she had lied to herself; she was just attracted to him, he was younger and more appealing than Pharaoh, she told herself. But slowly, surely, as she saw more of him, heard him speak, her love progressed and she could no longer deny the truth. It was strange how that day when she had been trapped in Imhotep's eyes and she saw acknowledgment of her secret, and…a reciprocation of the same feelings, she had felt as if she was seeing the Nile, the moon, the stars, everything for the first time. Yet after their first time alone, the time when she had nearly kissed the forbidden fruit of his lips just before the Pharaoh had come in, she determined, made herself promise, to never be alone with him again. And she had kept her promise, but the longings that she felt thereafter could not be kept away so easily.

)I(


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello, I am back and updating a day early. Ok, I know these chapters are all short, the story is short, but I hope that that doesn't bother ya'll and that you can still enjoy them. If you are enjoying this story...at all...please let me know. I'd really, really appreciate it.**

**And I would like to particularly thank **_**Mechanical Hogmonkey**_** for the lovely review. It just meant the world to me, and in return I want to dedicate this chapter to you. :)**

What Lay Hidden...Forbidden

_She is one girl, there is no one like her._

_She is more beautiful than anyother..._

_One looks at her passing by._

_This one, the unique one._

- Exerpts from 3,000 year old Egyptian love poem

The full moon has turned the bronze sands to silver. Imhotep looks upon Anck-su-namun as she stands on her balcony in the cold night air. She looks up at the stars with a wistful gaze, while he looks upon her and wishes that it was he that caressed and warmed her skin as her own graceful hands do. From his shadowed place he watches with growing, burning resentment and jealousy as Seti comes and enfolds Anck in his arms and drinks of the flesh of her neck. Imhotep looks away, cursing fate, but he must look back upon Anck-su-namun, his Anck-su-namun, while he can. Seti is now walking backwards into the bedroom, beckoning Anck to follow, she seems to ask for a moment longer. It is granted of course, who could resist her.

"Anck-su-namun" Imhotep whispers longingly into the night, but he must stop his thoughts before he his pulled into the dark despair, again. She turns to go and Imhotep pulls himself from his watch point. He kneels in his chamber and says his prayers, forcing Anck's face from his mind, but unable to do so from his heart.

Imhotep remembers the first time he saw Anck-su-namun…He rode with the Pharaoh on his boat as they sailed the Nile towards the sunset. Anck, painted gold in the traditional way, reflected the golden rays of the sun as the waters did, her eyes catching its brilliance. But as he looked at her Imhotep wondered if the sun's light came from _her eyes_? She was so beautiful, so full of life! She was so much the Pharaoh Seti's. But then he had caught her eyes and seen a light in her eyes that should be for Pharaoh alone. In the palace courts she had revealed her thoughts and Imhotep could not keep his own from her. Thus fate was cruel.

)I(


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hey guys, I am so sorry that I have not been updating, I was away...yet again...and then I have just been so tired after running after 500 4-6 graders for a week...and I AM NOT exagerating, that I just haven't been doing really anything online. Please forgive me and accept two new chapters as penance. Hope that ya'll enjoy. Please read and review. Thanks so much. PB8 **

What Lay Hidden...Forbidden

_He loves me not. Would God that I were dead!_

- Excerpt from A Woman's Lost Love

(date unknown)

_He believes I do not know he watches_.

She wished to die when Pharaoh came, and again when he called for her.

"Anck-su-namun, come to me my love." _my love_...Empty words. She longed to scream at him, "_Nigh! For I love Imhotep! And Imhotep only_!" now she wishes to cry as he kisses her feverishly. But she will not, she must not.

What is this cruel flame that burns within her? Sustaining her will to live against her will, earnest and strong, to die before she spends another moment in the arms of one she can never love? It is her love for Imhotep.

)I(


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Alright, here is the second chapter, I'll be posting again next week. Til then, please enjoy...and review :)...**

What Lay Hidden...Forbidden

_I offer to thee all that can delight,  
Hear thou my cry and bring my love again._

- Excerpt from A Woman's Lost Love, Egyptian love poem

(date unknown)

_May I walk into the fire and be burned like kernels of wheat..._

- Excerpt from the Adoration of Ra, the Book of the Dead

Another day passed with the same futile longings and unanswered wishes, but the night brought a banquet in honor of Egypt's latest victory against the Persians and a farewell to the Pharaoh and soldiers returning to battle. Anck dressed with care, choosing crimson and gold to accent her dark hair and bronze features. But she did not dress for Seti as she ought, but for Imhotep.

She watched him from beneath half-closed lids as his eyes flickered with desire. She guarded her own as they ran over him; he wore black and gold, looking all the more proud and immovable… but she knew the sensitivity and tenderness that lay within him. She missed him, the touch, the kisses, the words that she had never known. She looked him full in the eyes, something she rarely allowed herself to do; to much risk and vulnerability, and saw him understand her thoughts with those dark orbs of onyx. Sudden tears threatened to spill over what had passed between them, ever so distant, but the Pharaoh's voice broke the moment,

"Anck-su-namun, I would have you dance for me and my guests." He commanded, and she forced a smile as she answered seductively,

"Anything you wish my lord." and rose slowly. Servants dimmed the lights and the musicians began to play a smooth rhythm on their drums and strings. In the middle of the floor Anck swayed her body in hypnotically seductive movements, her fingers caressing the air that hung heavy with incense. Her jewels and skin glistened in the torch lights, her eyes glimmering as the rhythm of her body and the music flowed as one. All who watched were mesmerized.

Imhotep's eyes burned, he would need stay up all night in repentance for what he desired. He watched as in his mind Anck-su-namun danced solely for him. If he had seen into Anck's mind he would have seen she imagined the same. Each flick of her wrist, each sway of her hips, each meaning look from her black eyes was meant for Imhotep's pleasure alone. Her heart raced and burned within her as she longed for Imhotep to rise and meet her, take her in his strong arms and bestow, and allow her to bestow, all the passion that lay pent. The passion that mounted with the steady pulse of the drums. She took a red scarf and made arcs and circles of red flame around her, emblematic of what she felt; burning alive.

She dropped to her hands and knees and prowled across the cold marble floor; reaching out flowing, graceful arms in a beseeching gestures towards Imhotep. Then she turned and did so for Pharaoh on the other side of the room; but her eyes held not the fire with which she looked upon Imhotep with.

She completed the dance, slowly rising to her feet; her hands clasped above her head, the scarf held in her prayerful grasp as it fell over her, the sheer fabric encasing her as she slowly stopped swaying. A living flame. Imhotep wondered if she knew how she consumed him. The lights were brightened as the guests applauded. Anck's performance had been the crescendo of the night's festivities and Pharaoh rose to place an approving kiss upon her brow. Imhotep rose as well, turning to leave after bowing to his lord. He paid Anck only one more brief glance before he entered the courts outside the great hall.

Anck's chest rose and fell with the deep breaths of fatigue, but more so, of disappointment. She felt as if the winter of a desert night enshrouded her as her deepest wish was declined. When the Pharaoh's lips touched her warm flesh, she longed to cry, "_Nigh_!" But she could only cast one furtive, longing glance after Imhotep. She looked back at the marble floor, fighting her disappointment and commanding her tears to leave.

)I(


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hey all, here is the sixth chapter of WLHF and I would like to thank you all for your lovely reviews, they make my day :) Hope that you enjoy this next installment.**

What Lay Hidden...Forbidden

_Oh! when my lady comes,  
And I with love behold her,  
I take her to my beating heart  
And in my arms enfold her;  
My heart is filled with joy divine  
For I am hers and she is mine._

- Excerpt from Egptian love poem

(date unknown)

Darkness filled the palace, but Anck-su-namun walked surely along the halls, she knew the way, she'd traveled it so many times in her daydreams. Passing through what she knew to be a golden veil she entered a room where the moonlight streamed in from a large balcony, she stood before the silhouetted form of Imhotep.

Looking into each others eyes, they both knew what the consequences were, but hiding what was in their hearts neither were able to do any longer, not from each other.  
"Anck-su-namun," Imhotep said her name in a voice filled with desire. She took a sharp breath, her blood flowing warmer as he stepped up to her and ran his hands up her arms, not touching her, she could only feel his presence, and the obtain-ability and continued denial of what she had so long wanted nearly drove her mad. Imhotep slowly leaned in and kissed her. Finally, she could feel him up against her, could breath his same air. Though it began slowly, their forbidden expression soon rose to a fevered pitch. Anck hungrily kissed Imhotep, running her fingertips over his taught back, arms, his chest; pressing her hand over his beating heart. Imhotep held her possessively, but there was no pain in his grasp. Anck felt herself falling away from reality. And she did not, refused to, catch herself.

In Imhotep's quarters they were safe from discovery. So Anck woke with only a slight start, her eyes darting about the room, recognizing and remembering, before she completely relaxed again in Imhotep's arms.

The sunlight playing across him made him appear a golden god. She smiled up at him and brushed a kiss against his mouth as she moved closer to him and stretched her arm around him, brushing his back and shoulders with her fingers, relishing the culmination of her desires.

"Anck-su-namun…" he whispered in the voice that she could never tire of. She realized he was awake and smiled, truly smiled for the first time.

"I wish to stop the sun and moon." she whispered as placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth,

"Time has no bounds upon our love." Imhotep spoke his eyes opening. Here lay the utmost treasure in the world, here in his arms. Pharaoh could leave and fight Persia for more lands and wealth and all the while, something worth all of Egypt lay in his grasp; and he didn't recognize it. But Imhotep did, he brushed her face with the back of his fingers and Anck closed her eyes and leaned in closer. Imhotep caught her mouth up with his and kissed her long and hard. Anck moaned in pleasure, stoking the fire within his soul. They were now bound with the unbreakable bonds of love, not even her marriage to Pharaoh would keep them from loving each other. Death's sword was not even strong enough to cut their ties.

"If this is a dream never let me wake, if I am awake, never let me sleep." Anck said eyes still closed.

"You need not fear, my Anck." Imhotep lovingly reassured. She opened her eyes,

"Yes I do." she smiled sorrowfully, "My Imhotep." she caressed his face. A cloud suddenly, prophetically, blotted out the sun, Imhotep looked with a scowl at it and Anck rose and put on her golden robe.

"Where are you going?" he ask also rising,

"I must go to Pharaoh…" her voice trailed off as she turned and looked at him; he stood bare to the sun, irresistible, his dark eyes penetrating her in that way that was so tender it hurt, and it hit her that this was goodbye for now and that they would have to resume their façade, something that would be harder now; just because Pharaoh was leaving again, did not mean that all the rest of Egypt was blind. "before he leaves." she finished with reluctance as she turned to go,

"Anck." Imhotep caught her by the arm.

Anck turned to him with a measure of both relief and regret in her gaze. Hating to see such pain in her eyes of onyx he kissed her again. Anck savored it, clinging to him. They hesitated to part. Anck looked into his eyes for a moment that seemed to last an eternity, then turned and left before she couldn't. She went to her chambers and dressed, then proceeded to the outer courts where Seti and his chariots prepared to leave.

)I(


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hello all, here are the next two, painfully breif, and last installments of WLHF. Thank you all for reading and I would like to thank, Lillylynn, The Mechanical Hogmonkey, elvishwolf7, dtdang2, MaraJade31, and Pumita, for your wonderful and kind reviews and pms, they meant a lot, and I am so grateful for the response I got to this story. I hope you all enjoy these last two chapters of...**

What Lay Hidden...Forbidden

_Sweet, sweet, sweet as honey in my mouth,   
His kisses on my lips, my breast, my hair;  
But now my heart is as the sun-scorched South,  
Where lie the fields deserted, grey and bare. _

- Excerpt from A Woman's Lost Love, Egyptian love poem

(date unknown)

Anck acutely felt the void present when she embraced Seti. She smiled and did all that was required of her, until she stood watching his chariot disappear with hidden relief. She turned back to the palace, not being able keep her eyes from the balcony that jutted out from Imhotep's room, she wondered what fate held for them now.

)I(


	8. Chapter 8

What Lay Hidden...Forbidden

_Come! Come! Come! And kiss me when I die,  
For life, compelling life, is in thy breath;  
And at that kiss, though in the tomb I lie,  
I will arise and break the bands of Death. _

- Excerpt from A Woman's Lost Love, Egyptian love poem

(date unknown)

Imhotep looked out from his balcony and watched Seti kiss Anck goodbye. A bitter taste came to his mouth as he looked at the scene darkly. He turned away and let his eyes flow over his chambers; the gold was dull, the ebony statues lacked luster, everything looked duller now that Anck was no longer there. He closed his eyes and a satisfied smile spread across his features as he remembered her golden skin, silver in the moonlight, turning golden again in the morning sun, her soft voice, her sultry eyes; a radiant goddess. He would hold her again he told himself and someday, somehow, at any cost, he would be the only one to do so.

)I(

**AN: Thanks to all you wonderful readers : ) _Dua Netjer en etj..._**


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